Using inexpensive materials configured and tuned to capture
microwave signals, researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering
have designed a power-harvesting device with efficiency similar to that of
modern solar panels.
The device wirelessly converts the microwave signal to
direct current voltage capable of recharging a cell phone battery or other
small electronic device, according to a report appearing in the journal Applied
Physics Letters in December 2013. (It is now available online.)